Leeds United have the chance to remain in the automatic promotion spots with a win against Middlesbrough at Elland Road in the Championship this evening.
The Whites are currently second in the table and a draw could see them move to the top, before Sheffield United play on Wednesday, although a win could be needed if Burnley win their match tonight.
Daniel Farke’s side are fighting for automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking, after his team finished third in the division last season.
The West Yorkshire outfit beat Norwich City in the play-off semi-finals before losing 1-0 to Southampton at Wembley in the final, consigning them to another year in the second tier.
Their opponents this evening will be no pushovers, though, and it is unlikely to be as straightforward as the 2-0 win over Derby County last time out at Elland Road was.
Middlesbrough have won four of their last six matches in the Championship and secured a 1-1 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor in their last game.
Leeds will also be well aware of the threats that Michael Carrick’s team pose because they have already played them at Elland Road in the League Cup this season.
The last time Leeds played Middlesbrough at Elland Road
Back in August, the Whites were drawn at home to the Teesiders in the League Cup and Farke handed rare starts to Max Wober, Karl Darlow, Joe Gelhardt, and Patrick Bamford.
However, the likes of Junior Firpo, Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu, Joel Piroe, and Brenden Aaronson, among others, were also in the starting line-up, which shows that the manager put out a strong side with the intention of getting through to the next round.
Anfernee Dijksteel put the away team 1-0 up in the 50th minute when the right-back burst forward and, far too easily, dribbled past Rodon in the box before slotting an excellent left-footed finish into the bottom left corner.
Delano Burgzorg doubled their lead ten minutes later after Josh Coburn threaded a through ball to send him towards the edge of the box, where the winger cut inside of Rodon before firing past Darlow.
The third and final goal for Middlesbrough came when Isaiah Jones was given far too much space around the edge of the box and his deflected shot fell perfectly for Coburn to tap into an almost empty net.
It ended 3-0 to Carrick’s men, who created four ‘big chances’ to Leeds’ two, and supporters will be hoping that Farke learned enough from that heavy defeat to prepare the team better for tonight’s match.
Latest Leeds United injury news
In his pre-match press conference ahead of this game, the German head coach revealed that multiple players are either out or are serious doubts to feature at Elland Road.
Firpo is one star who will definitely be out for the Whites. He had to come off in the first half of the 2-0 win over Derby on Saturday and Farke has confirmed that the left-back has suffered a hamstring injury that is set to keep him out of action for up to six weeks.
The Dominican Republic international, who was signed from Barcelona for £13m in 2021, has provided one goal and three assists in 15 appearances in the Championship this season, and his attacking thrust could be missed down the left flank.
Firpo is not the only Leeds full-back who could be missing through injury tonight, though, as Farke also revealed that Jayden Bogle is a big doubt with a muscle issue.
The Whites swooped to sign the English defender from Championship rivals Sheffield United for a fee of £5m in the summer, and he has started 18 of the club’s 19 league matches to date, which speaks to how much trust the manager has in him to perform week-in-week-out.
It is not all bad news, however, as Farke also stated that right-back Sam Byram is back in training and could return to the squad against Middlesbrough, which would make him a like-for-like replacement for Bogle.
Byram is not the only player who could come back into the starting line-up for Leeds tonight, though, as the manager could make multiple changes to the side.
Predicted Leeds line-up to take on Middlesbrough
The £18m duo of Firpo and Bogle both potentially being out will mean that two new full-backs will need to come into the team, which could open the door for Byram and Wober to start.
After Firpo went off injured against Derby, the Austria international came on at left-back and scored the second goal for the Whites, whilst also helping the side to keep a clean sheet.
That could mean that the defence lines up with Illan Meslier in goal and a back four of Byram, Rodon, Pascal Struijk, and Wober, with Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell as the double pivot in front of the backline.
The attack is where the German boss could make unenforced changes to the starting line-up, starting with Wilfried Gnonto coming in for Manor Solomon, as suggested by Football FanCast.
Farke could also decide to remove Brenden Aaronson from the team after a string of underwhelming performances in the number ten position for Leeds in recent weeks.
Starts
6
Goals
0
Key passes
11
Big chances created
0
Assists
0
As you can see in the table above, the USA international has started the last six Championship matches for the West Yorkshire outfit and has not contributed with a single goal, ‘big chance’ created, or assist.
Farke could take him out of the team by unleashing academy graduate Mateo Joseph in a new role as an attacking midfielder behind Joel Piroe.
The Spain U21 international has created four ‘big chances’ and provided three assists in nine starts in the Championship, which shows that he can offer quality as a creator and that is why it could be worth seeing how he fares in a deeper role.
This would make the starting XI as follows… Meslier; Byram, Rodon, Struijk (C), Wober; Tanaka, Rothwell; James, Joseph, Gnonto; Piroe
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